Five on Friday

1. On Wednesday, Kevin and I had a night out in San Francisco. We had a beautiful dinner at One Market and then we went and saw Cirque du Soleil's "Totem!" One word: AMAZING! If you've never heard of Cirque du Soleil shows, they're like a glorified (and classy) version of a circus. Ha! We did all this as an early birthday celebration for me. Usually, we're so exhausted from the Christmas festivities once my birthday comes around that we don't do much. So we thought we'd celebrate a little early.

2. Once we're settled next year, I want to get a real Christmas tree. We've used an artificial tree for pretty much as long as I can remember; and while it's been great, I miss the fullness and smell of a real one. My hope is to have four Christmas trees next year: the real one, our artificial one, a mini one for a guest room and hopefully one for a future kiddo's room.

3. I'm finally getting my hair trimmed tomorrow. I don't think I've had it trimmed in about a year. I know, that's bad; but it's long and I'm lazy and I've been able to get away with it up until now. Along with a trim, I'm also going for some red and auburn highlights (or would they be considered lowlights?). I haven't colored my hair in years, so I'm looking forward to a little change. I'm thinking of a colors kind of like this...

4. Speaking of hair. Have ya'll heard of a blowout (and I'm not talking about Pauly D's blowout)? I saw a picture of a fellow blogger that had a blowout and her hair looked incredible! I think I'll ask my hair stylist about it tomorrow and what that's all about.

5. I ordered Maygan and Michelle each an Erin Condren planner for Christmas and they got them this week and were so excited about them! It made my heart happy. :) I think they're going to love them and I love that I was able to customize them for the style that they each like.

 (Last names blurred out for privacy :) )

Only nine more days until Christmas and trying to stay warm,

Sticky Fingers

About a month ago a co-worker brought in these delicious-tasting scones. I could've eaten all of them had she not been looking; so I only had three. I asked her for the recipe and she whispered "You just add water." I looked at her incredulously (big word there, people) and said "What?" She repeated, "You just add water."

You guys, these are so good! I believe you can find them at places like TJ Maxx or Marshalls, but I went ahead and ordered three different kinds from the website that day. They are quick and easy to make. I made a package of the blueberry scones when we had our garage sale last month so we had something to eat while weirdos came to look at our personal belongings. I made another batch of the cranberry and orange scones for breakfast Thanksgiving morning and they were a hit with everyone. I'm probably going to make a batch of the cranberry and orange muffins some time over Christmas weekend.

{via}

Right now they're offering 10% off everything (and free shipping for orders over $75) through their website. They have a lot of other types of goodies too, besides scone and muffin mix. Check it out if you want something easy and good to make that people will think you spent hours making yourself!

Good eating,

From our family to yours...

Click to enlarge.

I ordered our cards through erincondren.com.

Linking up with Faith's 2011 Christmas Card Carousel!



XOXO ~

Lazy

I've been such a lazy blogger lately. No other reason than that!

This past weekend Kev and I had a nice, relaxing weekend at home. We attended a meeting on Saturday morning about a new business venture we're going to get started in. We're hoping in a year or two we'll be completely debt free and I no longer have to work. If you're interested in finding out more about it send me an email at chasersofkaysersblog [at] yahoo [dot] com. (I'm not a salesperson, and I'm not going to try and pitch this business opportunity on here but if you want to know more I'd be glad to email you about it).

I got all of our Christmas shopping done on Saturday as well. After that experience I know now more than ever why I much prefer to do Christmas shopping online rather than in stores. I hate lines and people! There are crazy drivers and rude customers out in the world during the holidays. Isn't it supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year???

The line at Kohl's. Ugh!

I cleaned the house and finished laundry, and that night for dinner I made Jenna's Chicken Rollups. They were tasty! I even froze a second batch that we can have for dinner some other night.

Sunday I pretty much stayed in my PJ's until 3pm. Then I decided I wanted to do some baking so I went from PJ's to sweats and headed to the grocery store. I ended up making three tasty treats: Avalanche Bars (these are pretty much the best things I've ever tasted!), Chocolate Toffee Bars, and White Chocolate Covered Oreos (all recipes found through Pinterest). Luckily, they were all really easy recipes so it wasn't too exhausting, because you know I had done so little much that day already, what with lounging in my PJs and all. ;)

Now all these sweets are at our house and in my office -- which leads me to eat them. That WW plan I talked about a couple weeks ago isn't going over so well.

'Tis the season!

Workplace Irk-isms

I feel the need to express some things that irk me in the workplace. Please tell me I'm not alone here:

1.) People who spread germs. I understand that when you're sick or recovering from a cold, it's hard not to cough a little or sniffle. But if you're going to cough, cough into the crook of your arm. DON'T cough on your hand and then proceed to use said hand to grab onto something that other people have to touch. Or if you do, utilize hand sanitizer before you touch things. I think it is so rude when people aren't aware of germies. Not to mention just plain gross. You never know if those germs you're spreading could cause someone serious harm because of health issues they face, or health issues their kids may face. THINK!

2.) I have issues with hearing people swallow or eat. I have a co-worker that gulps her water and I can hear it and it makes me feel like gagging when she does that. Not sure what that's about. And people who eat with their mouth open -- don't even get me started.

3.) If someone doesn't look me in the eye when we're talking - that irks me as well. I feel like I don't have their full attention when they're not making eye contact. Maybe that's a female thing though, because for the longest time Kevin wouldn't really look me in the eye when we'd have conversations (he was usually looking at the TV), but he was listening, just not the way I thought he should. Ha!

4.) People who interrupt me or others when they're talking or they talk over you. I can't think of anything more impolite.

5.) Someone who listens in on your phone calls and then tries to get more information from you about that phone call when it's really none of their business. Eavesdropping much???

6.) If you say you're going to do something, don't think I'll just forget if you keep putting it off. Stick to your word and follow through.


I promise I don't complain like this all the time. These are just things I need to get out of my system. What are your workplace irk-isms (or your every day irk-isms)???

The end.

A Little Monday Humor

A doctor on TV said, "To have inner peace we should always finish things we start."

And we all could use more calm in our lives.

I looked around my house to find things I'd started and hadn't finished; so I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Chardonnay, a bodle of Baileys, a butle of wum, tha mainder of Valiuminun prscriptuns, an a box a chocletz. Yu haf no idr how fablus I feel rite now.

Tell awl ur frnzz who need inner pess. An telum u luvum.

 

Friday Facts

I have lots of THINGS I want to talk about.

1.) I had a meeting with the Boss Man today about some future plans. I guess it went well? There are still some unanswered questions so I guess we just wait and see what happens. (Sorry this is so vague. Hoping to be able to share more soon).

2.) This morning on the train in front of the train I was on, a pregnant woman passed out and hit her head. So the ambulance had to come, and the train I was on had to be un-boarded in the tunnel. Kind of crazy. I said a little prayer for the lady and her baby. Poor thing, I hope both are okay. :(

3.) As I stated previously, I started WW again as of Monday. Currently, I am down two pounds! I'm happy and starting to feel like my pre-wedding self again. Ha!

4.) Starbucks' Skinny Peppermint Mocha tastes nothing like their regular Peppermint Mocha. It is definitely not as good. However, it is less calories so I can suck it up (pun? haha!), I guess.

5.) I know of four women who have given birth in the past week! Two are blogger friends and two are IRL friends. Babies everywhere!

6.) Speaking of babies: I'm thinking 2012 is going to be the year of our friends having babies because 2011 was the year of our friends getting married. It seems like every week there is another person making a Facebook announcement about their pregnancy.

7.) I found a pair of jeggings at TJ Maxx for $15.00 and they are comfortable! In my experience, jeggings are not comfortable. The ones I had before were just kind of scratchy and they slid down all the time. But these are soft and they stay up. I am a fan.

8.) I pretty much don't watch TV anymore. I have Glee, The Closer, New Girl and many others with multiple episodes just waiting to be watched. I'm usually too busy after work to watch them. I need to get on that.

9.) On Sunday I'm meeting up with my friends Breanna and Laura and we're going to see "Breaking Dawn" and go have lunch in San Francisco. I'm excited! The three of us have seen each Twilight movie in the theaters together. We don't see each other often, but Breanna always seems to get us together for this - which I love!

10.) So I ordered our Christmas cards about a month ago (mostly because I already had the photo to use for them and we had the money and I just felt like getting them out of the way) and they are going out today! If you would like one, email me your address at chasersofkaysersblog [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'd love to send you one! I will be participating in Faith's Christmas Card Carousel on the 14th so I'll post our card then. You should participate if you have one you'd like to share!






11.) Kevin and I are having Christmas with my family in a couple weeks because our families won't be able to do Christmas together this year. So that means we have to get gifts soon. We already got my mom a canvas photo of a wedding picture that she wanted for her office. We know what we're getting my brother but we have NO CLUE what to get my dad. What do you get a man who has everything??? He has every gadget known to man, tools up the wazoo, he's not into clothes really. Suggestions?

12.) Oh, and I have no idea what to get my own husband. All he wants is a wallet. That's not very exciting.

13.) All I want for Christmas is a little bambino. But that's no surprise to all of you. ;) We have been talking about it a lot more so I'm hoping it shouldn't be too far off.

14.) I have this irrational fear of taking Stella to the dog park by myself. Both Kevin and I will take the dogs for walks, but he's usually the one that will take them to the dog park. I don't know, but I guess I'm just afraid that a dog will get into a fight with Stella and I would freak and not know what to do. So I faced my fear this week and took the dogs on Tuesday by myself and whatayaknow? Everything was fine! By the way, even though Stella is part Pit Bull, she is the most passive dog ever. She just wants to run, run, run and play, play, play, and when a dog gets aggressive with her, she plops down on the ground and rolls onto her back. She's goofy and I love her. Kahlua is not a fan of dog parks so she gets held the whole time. Plus, I'm pretty sure she'd die because a dog would step on her and that would be the end of Kahlua. Poor little thing.

15.) I hope you all enjoy your first weekend of December 2011!

XOXO,